Wednesday it was announced that Ohio State football had suspended voluntary workouts. Thursday it was announced the Big Ten had canceled all non-conference games and would only play a conference schedule this fall. Shortly after this announcement, the Athletic’s Nicole Auerbach said that the Pac-12 would likely soon choose to play a conference-only schedule. This report was then confirmed by another reporter. Each of these instances amounts to just another notch closer to football being canceled in its entirety this fall, or postponed and potentially moved to spring.
Multiple industry insiders tell @TheAthletic that they expect the Pac-12 to go to conference-only scheduling as well in the coming days: https://t.co/KVWGAZTCrc
— Nicole Auerbach 😷 (@NicoleAuerbach) July 9, 2020
But it’s clear from the rising cases and death tolls that the officials and powers that be should stop trying to make a season happen this year. It’s simply just not safe enough or worth the risk. The current presidential administration has shown no inclination to prevent further contamination; it is currently telling folks that they need to learn to live with the disease. While younger people are less prone to dying, even one athlete’s life is not worth the risk of playing a game. Sports are the reward of a functioning society, and we’re not there right now as a nation.
Conference-only games might seem like the solution here, but they’re not. The idea behind conference-only games is that schools can eliminate a number of environments they’re not familiar with in some cases; this hypothetically makes it easier for them to track-and-trace if there is an outbreak or an infection. It also does a decent job of limiting exposure in various forms. Yet, if a school is not able to completely eliminate risk or at least reduce it to an acceptable standard, it’s still a bad idea to conduct business as usual.
The Ivy League made the smart decision to not play any games this autumn. Not only does this allow them more time to get a handle on the COVID-19 cases in their immediate area, it also allows the universities in the league to create an environment in which the athletes are not in danger of contracting a virus simply so the school can make revenue by playing a football game. Spring football is becoming a more popular solution as this drama wears on. Perhaps it’s time the Pac-12 and USC gave spring football a closer look.